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Michael P. Dempsey is the former acting director of national intelligence. From 2014-2017, he served as the deputy director of national intelligence and President Obama’s primary intelligence briefer. In this role, he also regularly represented the intelligence community at National Security Council, Principal, and Deputy Committee meetings, as well as in congressional testimony, and was charged with leading the effort to integrate the 16 agencies of the US intelligence community.

He began his intelligence career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1990 and served in a number of management and analytical positions there, including director of the Office of Transnational Issues, director of the Office of African, Latin America, and Global Issues, and deputy associate director of CIA for military affairs. He also served as deputy CIA representative to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was a director of western hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council. Prior to joining the CIA, he served for four years as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

Mr. Dempsey has received the Presidential Rank Award, two National Intelligence Distinguished Service Awards, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the U.S. Army’s Meritorious Service Medal.

He earned a BA in history from Siena College, an MA in diplomatic history from the University of New York at Albany, and a Masters in international public policy from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University.

He lives in New York City with his wife, Ann. Their son, Michael, is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University and lives in Washington, DC.